We look back at the history of storms in Cardiff to compare
STORM Eunice has been a storm of firsts.
Rail officials believe that today is the first time that all trains in Wales have been cancelled. The Severn and Prince of Wales Bridges were also both closed to all traffic for the first time due to wind.
As the city recovers from Storm Eunice’s battering, we look back at historic wind storms in Cardiff and South Wales.
- Storm Barra – The Storm came in early December 2021 and peaked during the day, so its disruption was apparent in Cardiff. The Met Office issued a yellow wind and rain warning, and Transport for Wales created emergency train schedules. This included a reduced service between Cardiff Central and Brigend, and cancellations between Cardiff Central and Trehebert.
- Storm Arwen – From late November 2021, Arwen is the most recent storm to receive a red weather warning from the Met Office. It was notorious for leaving thousands in northern England and parts of Scotland without power for up to a week. Cardiff missed the worst of it, despite amber weather warnings being enforced for parts of coastal Wales. Across Wales, around 40 train tracks were blocked by fallen trees and 12 trains were damaged.
- Storm Emma – One of the most severe storms in recent memory, Storm Emma coincided with the “Beast from the East” to hit Cardiff in March 2018. Cardiff received a red warning for wind and snow, and most train and bus services in South Wales were cancelled. Snowfall of between 10 and 20cm meant schools were closed and the city was brought to a standstill.
- Storm Dennis – With a red warning for rain and a yellow warning for wind, Storm Dennis hit Cardiff hard in February 2020. A month’s worth of rain hit the city in just 48 hours, causing the River Taff to flood and completely submerging parts of Bute Park. The impacts are still clear two years on, as just two weeks ago a car was pulled out of the Taff after being submerged due to the storm.
- Burns Day Storm of 1990 – Long before the Met Office began naming storms in 2014, the Burns Day Storm brought severe gales across England and Wales. It was one of the strongest European windstorms on record and was responsible for 47 deaths in the UK, with approximately three million trees falling due to high winds.
While Storm Eunice has been compared to the Burns Day storm, experts have said it will not be as severe. Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern told the BBC: “This storm isn’t quite on the same scale as the Burns Night Storm – but it’s possibly one of the most powerful storms since we started naming them.”
So far, Storm Eunice has seen winds of up to 100mph and damage across Cardiff, including a collapsed building in Leckwith, roofs blown off buildings across the city, and fallen trees causing road closures.
- You can keep up to date on the storm in our liveblog
- View the weekend’s weather forecast here
Additional reporting by Annie Smith.
